Carry Me Home
by Jurodan
Summary: It's a wonder that Aizawa even owns a bed, he never reaches it by himself.


Author's Notes: Secret Santa!

This is a Secret Santa fic for toxicArgarian on serenawitchwriter's discord server, The Witch's House.

I'm not much of a romance writer, but of the options I was offered one spoke to me the most.

Carry Me Home

Aizawa wasn't certain when was the first time he woke up in a place he didn't fall asleep in. It was difficult to be certain. He had a habit, some would say a bad habit, of working past mere exhaustion into a fugue state which was usually what he was in by the time he tried to get home. It was probably during his time in UA though. He remembered waking up on a coach in the library a few times. Whether he got there himself or not he would never really be sure.

He did remember the first time he woke up while still being dragged. It isn't an experience you forgot, and he'd nearly broken Yamada's arm before Kayama intervened and gassed him. When he woke up again, he was alone in his bed. His father had rolled his eyes when he finally left his room, letting him know that he shouldn't bite the hand that feeds him, or nearly break a finger of the guy dragging him home.

That had stung, but not quite as much as knowing he'd actually hurt Yamada. He tried to apologize, but Yamada insisted on covering it up and playing if off, dismissing it as needing nothing more than needing a trip to Recovery Girl. Kayama filled him in though, in her usual insinuating manner, she'd had to help Yamada drag him because of his wrist and to make sure he didn't repeat the little stunt if he woke up again. She also let him know that he weighed more than she thought he did.

The next heroics class after that, by pure coincidence, had a lesson on how to carry people who were unconscious. He was not pleased to be volunteered as a training dummy, but it was the sniggering of his classmates when Yamada volunteered to partner with him that irked him the most. Of all the people he trained with that afternoon, he only rested comfortably on the shoulders of one.

The next big event was when he woke up in a place he knew he hadn't been in. That had been a startling experience, and he was awake and aware the moment he opened his eyes. It only took him a moment to recognize the posters on the walls though, and he relaxed a fraction before he pulled out his phone and called Yamada. His friend came in a minute later, all smiles, apologizing and explaining that it had started raining, and his place is a lot closer to UA than Aizawa's.

Things... evolved from there. They became active heroes. Mic went through an agency, Aizawa was by himself. Yamada let him crash the night at his place if he was too tired, since he usually slept during the day and Yamada slept during the night. That led to the first time he woke up next to Yamada though. Their schedules hadn't quite meshed, and he woke up to see his friend slumped beside him. It was incredibly awkward, and he apologized, but Yamada just shrugged it off. He hadn't wanted to wake him up, and he couldn't get comfortable on the couch. He hadn't thought Aizawa would mind, and after a moment of thinking about it Aizawa realized he was right.

A few months later Aizawa learned he was being evicted. He'd paid the rent of course, but he hadn't renewed the lease. His mailbox was usually very full when he got home, mostly because he didn't actually get home very often anymore. Yamada just smirked and offered to help him move; loudly claiming that he was looking forward to only paying for half the rent. It made sense, and together they could save a bit for a second bed. There really wasn't room though and the issue slipped his mind as he worked on new cases, but something about the look on Yamada's face when he first mentioned it occasionally flitted through his mind. It was only there for a second, a flash of… of something… but then it was gone. He dismissed it and forgot about it, and woke up next to Yamada more and more often.

Then they became teachers of the next generation of heroes not too long after that. Sleep, never at the forefront of Aizawa's priority list, moved back even further. The sleeping bag had been a gift from Mic, saying that it would make him easier to spot if he hunkered down. Aizawa was pretty sure it was meant as a joke, and he was certain that Mic thought he took it way too far, but apparently it really helped. He was sure that the rumors Present Mic had begun carrying him bridal style through the halls of UA were totally unfounded. The bridal carry was a terrible and ineffective method of carrying someone long distance.

And then Kayama sent him a text. He was tempted to ignore it for the emojis alone, but opened it . He stared at himself in Yamada's arms, dead to the world, held in a bridal carry by a smiling Yamada. He took some time to digest the picture, to take in the details. Mike had obviously posed for the picture, which irked him, but he looked… comfortable in Yamada's arms. Yamada was his usual smiling self. He knew the man well enough to tell the difference between real and force, and there was real joy on his friend's face.

He was still studying it when Yamada called his name. "Good news Aizawa?" Yamada was his usual grinning self, "You almost look happy."

Aizawa stared at him for a moment, refusing to display his surprise. Perhaps it was exhaustion, perhaps it was something else. For a man sometimes accused of being heartless by his students, sometimes even by his peers, he wasn't. He didn't form relationships easily, but he had one, and not just a professional one, with Yamada. He woke up next to him most days, or was woken up by him. Yamada regularly carried him home.

Yamada waved a hand in front of his face, "Earth to Aizawa? You fall asleep with your eyes open?"

"No." He answered, then turned the phone to Yamada. "I was just thinking."

Yamada's lip quirked, "So that's where all the smoke was coming from!" And then he pointed finger guns at him.

Aizawa was silent for a moment more and then turned the phone to his friend, "Why a bridal carry?"

Yamada's eyes widened, "Kayama said she wouldn't send that!"

Aizawa pulled his phone back and looked at the image once more, "It's not the first time you did it, is it?" Silence answered him and he took a breath. "We've been friends for years."

"Y-yeah." The usually outrageously outgoing hero muttered.

"Is that all you wanted? To just be friends?" Aizawa looked at his friend, watched the unnatural stillness, the held breath, the bad poker face. "Or did you want more?"

'I do.' Yamada was silent, his tongue refusing to move. 'I've wanted more for years, but you've never made a move. Not on me, not on any guy, not on any girl. I don't know if anyone interests you… and if I never ask, you can never turn me down.'

Aizawa stared for a moment, eyes half lidded. "You do, don't you." His eyes drifted from Yamada to his phone, the image darkened, "You know, there are mornings when I wake up and you've rolled over during your sleep, your arm draped over my chest, your head on my shoulder, sometimes you even have a leg over mine." His phone went to sleep and he looked back up, "You look happier then than any other time you know, peaceful, comfortable. I don't think I've ever had the heart to wake you when you're like that."

Yamada took a breath, giving his burning lungs respite, "It isn't just when you're asleep. You always make me feel that way."

Aizawa nodded, "So you do have feelings for me."

Yamada swallowed his mouth dry, his throat tight. "Yes." The word came out as little more than a murmur, but he'd finally voiced it.

Aizawa closed his eyes and nodded. "That makes sense."

Yamada stood still for a second, ready to burst, taking shallow breaths, "I-is that all you're going to say?"

Aizawa shook his head, "Carry me home Hizashi." His lip quirked, "The bridal carry is fine."

Author's notes: I'd like to thank the people who beta read for me: littlemissoyashirou and BlueCrownFics. This story would be far shallower without them pushing me to do more.


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